Planning commission backs Erickson continuing-care campus; 3-2 recommendations sent to council

The Westminster Planning Commission on Aug. 12 voted 3-2 to recommend City Council approve comprehensive-plan amendments, rezoning and a preliminary development plan that would allow Erickson Senior Living to build a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) on about 75.5 acres of the Hahn Hewitt property east of Westminster Boulevard.

The recommendation came after a public hearing that included a staff presentation, a developer proposal and more than three dozen public commenters for and against the project. Acting Chair Commissioner Richard M. "Mayer" Mayo called the question after deliberations and the commission recorded the three recommendations as separate votes; each passed, three in favor and two opposed.

Staff senior planner Nathan Lawrence told commissioners the site is currently designated Employment Flex in the 2040 comprehensive plan and that the applicant seeks to redesignate most of the parcel to Urban Multifamily to accommodate a CCRC. "The proposed CCRC at completion would increase the number of independent senior units in the city by more than a 140%," Lawrence said, and staff’s analysis also showed tradeoffs including the loss of a large employment site and an increase in water demand compared with the current Employment Flex designation.

Why it matters: the project would add a large, single-owner senior campus with independent living plus assisted-living, memory care and skilled nursing on one site and is projected by Erickson and staff to bring hundreds of jobs, tens of millions in fees and public-land dedication to Westminster while also producing measurable new demands on city services.

What commissioners and staff said Staff presented analysis under Westminster Municipal Code review criteria (Section 11-5-21 for comprehensive-plan amendments and Section 11-5-14 for rezonings and preliminary development plans). The staff memo concluded the applications meet the code criteria…